


Here, There Be Dragons!

by ashleyfanfic



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Allies, Conversation, F/M, Requested Prompt, Staring, dragon petting, missing scene 7x05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 08:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12979641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleyfanfic/pseuds/ashleyfanfic
Summary: Jon Snow steps out of Dragonstone to brood and finds his normal hill occupied.





	Here, There Be Dragons!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NoOrdinaryLines](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoOrdinaryLines/gifts).



> This is written for NoOrdinaryLines who requested Jon petting the rest of the dragons and Daenerys seeing him do it. It's a short little fic set before Jon leaves for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and after the council meeting where he asks her to trust him. I hope you like it, my dear!

Jon turned from going to the beach in favor of the hillside. Too many men to interrupt his thoughts along the shores. He seemed to be ignored if he was standing above the world than beneath it. As he approached his usual spot, he found the dragons resting there. It was bizarre enough that he had a usual spot, but that he now had to contend with the dragons was more troubling.

Drogon, the one the queen seemed to favor, hadn’t hurt him when he’d touched him, but he wondered how much of that was because of her presence. Would the outcome have been different had she not been there? He was a Northron fool, after all. Nothing like tempting fate again. He removed his gloves and tucked them into the front of his jerkin. He moved slowly, not wanting to alarm the great beasts.

Viscerion was the first to lift his head and turn his large eyes to Jon, followed by the other two. None of them moved, just waited for him to make the first move. He swallowed down his fear, realizing he had a rare opportunity, to actually touch dragons without their mother present. It was almost too much to hope for that he might be allowed. Viscerion was the closest, and he moved slowly and stopped as the animal’s large head pressed up against him and inhaled. On the exhale, Jon smelled smoke, fire, and ash. It was nearly enough to send him in retreat, but the gold one rested his head on the ground once more and looked at Jon expectantly.

He reached out his hand, tentatively and smoothed over the golden scales which seemed to almost shine in the sunlight. Viscerion seemed to almost preen under his caress. The bumpy texture of his skin was warm to the touch, almost as if holding a hand up to a fire. He was nudged from the back by the green dragon and nearly sent to the ground. Rhaegal sat looking at him expectantly, though he towered above him.

He lowered his head as well and Jon smoothed over his snout, between his large nostrils. Rhaegal reminded him of Ghost as a puppy, demanding his attention and refusing to settle until he got it. The great green dragon settled on the ground, dropping his head down as well to settle beside his brother. Drogon remained towards the back and he wondered if he’d only gotten lucky when he’d been able to touch him earlier. Was Daenerys the one reining him in or was he the one who did what he wanted?

Rhaegal nuzzled his hand and Jon smiled briefly to see him happily accept his touch. Viscerion wasn’t one to be neglected and nudged Jon’s hip, once more nearly knocking him down. This would have to be a memory he savored the rest of his life. He had dreamt of having dragons to help against the fight with the dead. Wished for them, really. And here were three, large, fire-breathing dragons. He wished he could take them on their journey beyond the wall. It was risky as it was, though he knew the Wildlings would help. How much more certain would he feel if he had them there to fight off the dead? Would a wight even be needed if the dragons went beyond the wall? If he could convince their mother that there were more important battles, wars, than the one she was waging against Cersei?

He stepped back suddenly as all three dragons turned to peer behind him, Drogon nudging the other two out of the way as he turned to see the object of his thoughts walking towards him. He continued to pine for her, though he knew it was futile. She only saw him as an interloper, a King in rebellion against her kingdom.

“It’s one thing to pet Drogon while I’m out here. It’s near suicidal to do so with all three as I’m nowhere in sight.”

He turned to face her and watched as she stroked Drogon and rubbed her forehead against his skin. He moved his eyes to the green dragon which was still nuzzling under his touch even though his mother was near. “You were right. They’re not beasts,” he said with a slight smirk. “They rather remind me of wolves.”

Daenerys faced him, then. “Given your fondness for wolves, I’ll take that as a compliment. What has brought you out here, Jon Snow?”

He heaved a sigh and stepped closer to her. “I needed a moment to think. To breathe.”

She folded her hands in front of her as she moved closer to him. “I wish I could get you to reconsider your mission.”

“You can’t. I have to go.”

“Why? You have men loyal to you who would go for you. Why does it _have_ to be you?”

“The Wildlings wouldn’t follow anyone else, not even on my command. And I wouldn’t ask others to do something I’m unwilling to do myself. You said what kind of queen would you be if you weren’t willing to fight for your people. What kind of king would I be?”

She looked away from him. “One that remained alive. Do you have a deathwish, Jon Snow?”

He sighed. “No. But I’ve been beyond the wall. I know what’s there. I know what we’re fighting. We only need one.”

“And should you not come back from this mission? The North crumbles. Your people would suffer without you.”

 

  
“I left my sister in charge. She is capable of being a leader.”

“They chose you. They chose you to be their King.”

“And as their King, I’m doing what I think is best to protect them. We need everyone aligned. I need your help, but you won’t turn from this war with Cersei unless I can prove to the both of you that this threat is more important. More immediate. I’ll go to bring this world together.”

She looked at him with a frown. “I suppose your mission depends on Tyrion and Ser Davos.”

“I have faith in Davos. And Tyrion. Less faith in Jaime Lannister.”

“The Kingslayer,” she said as she turned and started walking away from the dragons. “I nearly killed him at Blackwater. The fool picked up a spear and charged at me while Drogon was still beside me.”

Jon shook his head. “I suppose he thought that if you died the war would end.”

“If I died...the Dothraki would roam through this country unchecked. My dragons...he was a fool to think that it would be over with my death. If anything, it would be worse.”

He frowned. “Then let’s avoid that. This country and it’s people have suffered enough.”

“They still suffer. My instinct is to fly to the Red Keep. You know this. It would end the war, allow me to sit on the Iron Throne and control the armies I need to keep this country in check and fight the battles that matter. But you were right that first day in my throne room. I don’t want innocent people to die. I don’t want to rule ashes. I want to help people.”

“Then help us in the North," he asked, almost tired of hearing his own voice ask for help. "The dead are coming. You can ignore it, placate me, but I assure you that if the Night King makes it beyond the Wall it won’t matter what happens here. The world will be consumed.”

They walked in silence until her voice finally pierced through the whipping wind, “Do you know the mad part, Jon Snow?” He glanced at her. “I believe you.” He stopped walking and she turned to face him. “I didn’t, at first. I made that rather obvious. The cave helped. I believe you but I can’t turn my focus away from all of these people who are currently suffering, and they are. Under Cersei they suffer. You know that. I have to fight to help them.”

He sighed. “I didn’t think you would ever believe me.”

She shrugged. “I like to surprise people.”

He chuckled a bit and she smiled. “I have to admit, you’re not what I’d been told you were.”

“And what had you been told? A foreign whore with foreign armies?”

“Close. Another mad Targaryen out to burn the world. A foreign invader.”  


“I was born here. True, I wasn’t raised here. But perhaps it’s best that I’ve seen other places and how they live. How they survive and fight for what they have. I’ve wandered through deserts, grasslands, and through fire to get here. I liberated cities and people to try and make their lives better. But because I wasn’t raised here, because my armies weren’t raised here, we’re the bad ones.” She frowned. “That hardly seems fair, does it? I was forced from my home. It wasn’t my choice to leave.”

He sighed. “I suppose we only know what we want to know. Our perceptions of people have to change if we want this world to do so. I’m sure what you knew about the Northron people wasn’t flattering.”  


 

She smiled and shook her head. “It was not. And then you walked into my throne room. Young, comely, and at the beginning, pleasant.”

He smirked but it left his face quickly when he remembered how things had turned so quickly. “You asked too much too fast.”

She tilted her head. “Says the man who told me there was an army of the dead marching towards us. I suppose both of our expectations were too high.”

“I suppose. I suppose we could both be called stubborn, as well.”

She shook her head. “What king or queen isn’t?”

Jon realized that it was the first time she had actually addressed him as a king. He stared at her, her beauty seemed too pure for this world. She certainly didn’t look like she belonged in it. He felt himself staring, again, and turned his gaze back to the dragons. “Rhaegal and Viscerion are much smaller than Drogon.”

She nodded sadly. “Yes. They were held captive for a time. Drogon burned a villager’s child. I realized I couldn’t leave them to roam unchecked. They were dangerous...so, I managed to get Rhaegal and Viscerion beneath the pyramid in Meereen. They were angry with me, as they should have been. But I didn’t want people to suffer, and I knew I could...rein them in.”

“And Drogon?”

 

“There is no controlling Drogon,” she said, a small smile as he realized the black dragon had lifted his head and watched them. “He’s wild. Not meant to be chained. Much like his namesake.”

“You named two after your brothers. Who was Drogon?”

She smiled and they continued walking back to the keep. “My first husband.”

“How many times have you been married?”

“Two. Neither were marriages I wanted. But the first was much harder. I was little more than a child when my brother sold me to Khal Drogo. A fierce warrior and he terrified me. He was bigger, stronger, cruel, and cared none for the suffering of others.”

She was silent for a moment and he frowned. “But you named your dragon after him?”

 

She stopped walking and turned to face him. “I feared him. But over time, I loved him. I made him love me. But I lost him and my son.”

“Your son?” This was the first Jon had heard about her having a child.

She nodded. “Rhaego. He was to be the Stallion Who Mounted the World. Instead, he was...he died. I never even got to hold him.”

Jon could see the sadness on her face and wanted to push it away. He wanted to hold her and make her forget her pain. But he balled his fists at his side to keep from doing something so foolish. “I’m sorry.”

She looked back at Drogon. “I named him after my husband because he promised to give me the Iron Throne and to take Westeros for me. He can’t give that to me, but Drogon can.”

“Tyrion was right.”

Daenerys rolled her eyes. “Probably, but don’t say it too loud. What, exactly, was he right about?”

“There’s more to foreign invaders and Northron fools than meets the eye.”

She looked down at her hands again and he found himself staring at her. He always seemed to be staring at her. They reached the steps to take them back to the castle and took them together. “Will you dine with us this evening, Jon Snow?”

“If that is your wish.”

Daenerys nodded. “It is. Maybe you’ll finally tell me how it is that the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch became King of the North.”

Jon tilted his head and frowned. “Or maybe I save that as a story to tell you upon my return.”

She gave him a slight smile, then. “I think I like that idea better.”


End file.
